We were back in Old St. Mary's Catholic Church yesterday where we met Sister Irene Gumbleton who belongs to the order of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and spent 27 years (1971-1998) as a principal and teacher at Most Holy Trinity Detroit. Sister Gumbleton described her experiences during a few key moments of her time in Detroit like the race riots of 1943, the uprising 24 years later in 1967, and then the Tigers winning the world series in 1968. Not to mention sharing her time as one of the sisters who played such a significant role as an educator of the children that attended parish schools that were a part of everyday life in Detroit back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and into the 80s.
On the third floor of Old St. Mary's, organist Bob Barnhart demonstrated how the organ is played and helped us to better understand the mechanisms that allow for that beautiful sound to fill the parish. There are organs in almost all of the historic Detroit churches because organs have always been part of the liturgy. All of these wonderful things like the extensive intricate architecture, bells, stained glass, and the organ help people to receive God through the different senses besides solely reading the word of God.
Organ builder Dave Wigton described the material used for different organs with the one at Old St. Mary’s made in 1985-1990 by Wigton Pipe Organs Inc. which is made of mostly tin and the wooden pipes and flutes made out of African mahogany and oak. He then demonstrated for us the complexity of having to go in and repair the organ if anything happens to it.
Down the street is the "mother church" for Detroit Polish Catholics, St. Albertus Historic Site, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. When people were migrating over to the United States during the 19th century, there was a large number of Polish immigrants in Detroit that needed a place to worship. This resulted in the construction of the Sweetest Heart Of Mary Catholic Church, St. Albertus, and Old St. Mary’s. St. Albertus was built to seat around 2,000 people and at one point, member numbers went down significantly. Because of its size and with the Sweetest Heart and Old St. Mary’s so close by, St. Albertus was forced to close down. However, the Polish American Historic Site Association (P.A.H.S.A.) was determined to save the building. Matthew Baka, President of the PAHSA, has an undergrad degree in art history and works closely with his coworker Celeste Grabowski to keep the building funded and relevant in the community.